


Hidden in the Open

by leowritestuff



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Airbender Ty Lee (Avatar), Character Study, Gen, Introspection, Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-07
Updated: 2020-07-25
Packaged: 2021-03-03 23:00:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,954
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24583447
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/leowritestuff/pseuds/leowritestuff
Summary: Growing up as an airbender in the middle of the Fire Nation, Ty Lee has always known how to hide in plain sight. But sometimes she wonders what it would be like if she didn't have to hide at all.
Relationships: Aang & Ty Lee (Avatar)
Comments: 17
Kudos: 304





	1. Chapter 1

Ty Lee knows how to hide in plain sight. How to be unassuming. How, even when stealing people's attention, they don't give her any thought at all. She know how to slip into a crowd, to become just one in a hundred.

Having six identical sisters, people assume this is the reason why Ty Lee can.

None of the people who think this though have six identical siblings, or even three at the least. If anything, having six identical sisters makes Ty Lee want to stand out even more. To be her own person, to be acknowledged for herself, as herself, and not just part of a group.

But she could never afford to. The thing was, she could bend air. If anyone found out, she would be killed, and her family thrown in jail, or banished, or killed along side her. She had to keep her head down, she didn't have any other choice.

And being one of the best friends to a princess of the Fire Nation- and then the _crown_ princess of the Fire Nation- didn't help things at all.

Ty Lee wanted to be able to be herself. To not be part of a group, to be able to be recognized as who she was as an individual. She didn't want to have to hide anymore. And as much as she tried before, she could never be totally open.

She has spent so much time hiding, she doesn't even know if she can be herself.

Ty Lee doesn't even know who "herself" is.

Ty Lee sits in front of her mirror, wiping the Kyoshi Warrior makeup off her face. She wants to find out who she is. She wants to be able to be open about who she is, and she wants this like she wants nothing else in the entire world.

She loves the other Kyoshi Warriors, loves having that little sort of family. She's close friends with all of them. And as much as the Kyoshi Warriors are a group, as much as they all wear the exact same face of make up, with the exact same dress, they treat Ty Lee as an individual. Not a sister. Not a pawn to play, not a weapon to be used. Not something that could destroy a whole family if Ty Lee decided to be too "open."

But Ty Lee looks at the makeup stripped from her face, and she wonders how much of being part of the Kyoshi Warriors is because she wanted to, or because being part of a group that looked exactly alike was familiar. Comfortable. _Safe_.

She wonders if she could be a Kyoshi Warrior _and_ an airbender.

But she isn't an airbender, or at least she doesn't feel like it. Yes, she can airbend, but she's not an airbender, exactly. It's different, somehow.

But Ty Lee wants to be an airbender. She knows who can help her.

Aang, the Avatar, and the last airbender. At least, the world thought he was the last. Its funny, really. Ty Lee used to think it was her.

Ty Lee gets up, leaves the room, and walks down the Fire Palace's hall.

Ty Lee wants to be an airbender. She wants to figure out who she is, when all she's ever done is hide.

She's outside Aang's door, and slowly lifts her fist to knock.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ty Lee knocks. Aang opens the door.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sense y'all asked, well, I figured I'd deliver.

There's a knock at Aang's door. It's night, not too late, but past the time Zuko would be awake, so at least he knows its not him. Some of the others would be awake still, but he knows most of them are getting ready for bed, retired for the day.

The moon isn't full, but it's not new either, so Aang assumes it's Katara. She stays up with the moon sometimes, the way that it calls to her, being a waterbender. Aang can feel the moon too, but he knows its different for him. He doesn't know if he can feel it's presence less than Katara or not, but it's just not as important. Not compared to the way he can feel the sun too. Or the ground beneath his feet.

Or the air, circling around him. He can feel it as he breathes in, and breathe out. It's all around him. It's apart of him.

Aang wonders, briefly, what it would be like to be seperated from his element. What it would feel like. He thinks of his culture, of his people, _gone_ , and he doesn't think anymore.

When he opens the door, its not Katara.

It's Ty Lee.

"Oh, hi Ty Lee!" Aang smiles at her, and notes she's already in a nightgown, pink, and the Kyoshi makeup is gone from her face.

"Do you need anything?" Aang asks.

Ty Lee startles, for a second, just a second. Then she beams, smile bright and blinding. "Aang, oh yes, um-"

Ty Lee stops. She blushes red, and opens her mouth, then closes it again. Ty Lee shrugs,"Oops, I forgot. I'll let you know if I remember though!"

Aang doesn't know Ty Lee very well, but he thinks she's acting weird. He can't tell why though, so he simply asks,"Do you want to come in?"

Ty Lee takes it with a shy smile. "Are you sure? I don't want to impose."

Aang nods,"You're a friend, you're always welcome," and holds the door open for her.

Ty Lee smiles at him- she smiles a lot, Aang notices, and walks in.

Aang drifts over to the desk provided in his room, and pulls through the door for the games he brought with him. There's pai sho, and a few others. He begins to ask Ty Lee what she'd want to play, but he notices the way she's fixtated on his glider.

Aang's instantly nervous, cold buzzing up his chest. He doesn't know what she wants, what she's going to ask. He likes talking about the Air Nomads, his people, his culture. His words are one of the few things they have left. But it's always uncomfortable, having others ask first. He enjoys it, sometimes, with some people. Those who are respectful. But others it feels-

Its also the way how Ty Lee's fingers drift over the wood. And Aang thinks for a second, just a second, that's she's going to steal it. Aang knows Ty Lee wouldn't, she's not like that. But her being Fire Nation doesn't help the anxious thought. Aang knows that she didn't cause what happened to his people, knows it's wrong to blame her for something she didn't do. But he still knows, knows, it wouldn't feel the same if Ty Lee was Earth Kingdom, or Water Tribe. _Or-_

"I'd prefer you didn't touch my glider," Aang says, trying to swallow the anxiety burning in his throat.

Ty Lee jumps, and quickly moves away from the glider. "Oh, sorry!" She says sheepishly.

Ty Lee sits at a plush chair in the room. Seconds drift past, silence, and Ty Lee glances back at the glider. And away again, just as quick.

"Are you... interested in my glider?" Aang asks, anxiety back full force.

Ty Lee pauses for a second then- quiet. Her face is full of a fear Aang has never seen on her before. It flits from her face, and she hums.

A smile on her face. Again.

She's hiding. Aang knows that now.

"Ty Lee, are you okay?" Aang asks.

"I'm positively peachy!" Ty Lee smiles.

"Are-" Aang stops. _Are you sure_ is what he was going to say, but Aang doubts Ty Lee would answer that anyway other than positively. He'll have to confront her directly.

"You're not okay," Aang responds, and it's a statement, not a question,"Ty Lee, you came to me for a reason, and I know it's not just to chat. Are you _okay_?" He ask more pointedly. It's not a yes or no question. Its a, tell me more question.

Ty Lee's smile drops, and the fear comes back. Her lips tremble, and her hands shake. She doesn't say anything. Not for a second. Or another. Or-

"You don't know what to say, do you?" Aang asks.

Ty Lee shakes her head. A quiet "no" slips from her lips.

"Can you show me?" Aang asks.

"Um." Ty Lee says, and her gaze drifts to the glider again, just for a second.

Ty Lee lifts her hand, slowly, gently. She holds it up to Aang. He comes closer, confused, and then there's a breeze. Fluttering over his eyes, cold over his skin.

He knows it's not a draft before he goes to check the door, and the window, but he doesn't let himself believe it. It doesn't make _sense._ He's had so, so much hope, but it's always been crushed.

Meanwhile, Ty Lee is shaking more and more.

Aang sits back down, and he stares at Ty Lee. No, doesn't stare. He just looks. Not at Ty Lee. Not at anything. _This doesn't feel real. This can't be real._

\--

Aang is silent, just looking at her. Well, looking past her. Ty Lee doesn't know what to expect. Doesn't know what to say, or what to do for the first time in her life. She's laid bare, her biggest secret is in the open. Its _terrifying_ , being this vulnerable.

Ty Lee shouldn't have said anything. She should've just kept it secret. Never let anyone know. At least her family would be safe. She'd be safe. Everything would be how it always ways.

But she wouldn't truly be herself.

...But what if Aang- what if she can never be herself?

\--

"You're an airbender?" Aang finds himself saying, voice quiet. He didn't notice he said it, not at first.

Ty Lee nods.

"You're really an airbender?" Aang asks again, voice hallow. He can't believe this. "How- how is this possible?"

"My great grandmother was an air nomad, she wasn't in the temples during the ambushes." Ty Lee starts, and it's like it's memorized. "So she hid in the Fire Nation. My grandma was an airbender too, and when she found out I was one too, she taught me everything I knew."

"...I hated hunting you with Azula," Ty Lee says now."You where the only other airbender I knew, besides my grandma and she's not-" Ty Lee takes a deep breath. "But if I didn't chase you down, I'd be dead, my family would be- It _killed_ me when the world thought Azula killed you. I lost- I've never told anyone this before."

It's a lot to take in. It's a _lot_ to take in. Some Air Nomads survive? Ty Lee's grandma, she was an airbender? There's other airbenders? There's airbenders alive? But it's easy to figure out what Ty Lee couldn't say. Her grandma is- she's not alive, not anymore, and Aang can feel tears welling in his face. He never knew her, but she was an airbender, she was _alive_ and now she's not. It feels like finding out he was the last airbender left all over again.

But he's _not._ He's not. He can't believe this. _He's not._

Ty Lee is right here, in front of him. She's alive.

"We're not alone," Aang says, throwing his arms around Ty Lee, laughing crying. _He's not alone._

\--

"We're not alone," Aang says to her, before he squeezes Ty Lee in a hug.

She's not alone. Not anymore.

"Can you teach me airbending?" Ty Lee asks.

"Yes," Aang laughs, and the shoulders of her gown feel wet. "Yes, of course!"

She's going to learn airbending. Finally.

Ty Lee sinks into the hug, and she feels more at home than she has in a long time.

She feels more _right_ than she has in a long time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bonus: 
> 
> It comes to Aang later. If Ty Lee is an airbender, if her family survived- what's the chance of finding others? What if they're not the last airbenders, not by a longshot? 
> 
> \--
> 
> Also, I do want to note that while Aang said it's wrong to blame Ty Lee for what happened to his people it's more complicated than that? I don't know how to explain it but. That's just what I felt was in character for Aang to say. Well I mean, it would be wrong to blame Ty Lee specifically sense she's an airbender and the descendant of Air Nomads but just a regular Fire Nation citizen? Idk.


End file.
